Living Here: Message In A Bottle Delivers Happiness

The well-traveled bottle launched by a boy, then recast into the Sound by the writer.

The well-traveled bottle launched by a boy, then recast into the Sound by the writer. (James Russo | Effstopp.com)

NINA LESIGA

Ever wonder where a floating bottle has been?

Connecticut is the perfect place to dream and discover moments of happiness. I learned this from a young boy with a passion to launch a message in a bottle into Long Island Sound and then hoping to find out where it ended up.

On Labor Day, I was walking along the high tide line on Long Beach in Stratford near my home when an object caught my eye. As I approached, I saw it was a corked Coke bottle with a rolled-up message inside.

I stopped, stared and thought, "Is this real or is this staged?" It was 8 a.m. I looked around. I was the only one on the bay. It seemed to be very real — nobody was watching to see what I'd do.

My next thoughts were, "Do I open it up now or wait? Do I do it alone or do I share the experience?" During my lifetime, I've occasionally thought how wonderful it would be to find a message in a bottle, but dismissed the dream. I never got to the point of thinking about what to do if I actually found one.

Then, I spotted people on the beach a distance away. I walked over to share my news. They were ecstatic about my proposal to share the moment of opening the bottle with them. So in the company of three strangers, I pulled the cork, carefully removed the note tied up with a piece of straw and unrolled it.

The note was written in pencil in a child's handwriting and was singed around the edges. The message said that the bottle had been tossed into the water from another spot on Long Beach by Luca Fusco, a 9-year-old boy in the third grade. I guessed it had floated about a half-mile. Luca was curious about where the bottle would end up and asked for an email from the finder. He said I could keep the sea glass and other stuff inside. It touched our hearts.

I wrote to the young boy and shared details about finding his message in a bottle. Luca replied that he was glad that I found the bottle and had fun with it. I received a second email from his mother. She explained that her son woke up one morning determined to send a bottle out to sea. He and his dad worked on it together.

Following Luca's lead, I added a second note to the Coke bottle and tossed it back into the Long Island Sound at high tide with the idea that the outgoing current might take it away from Long Beach and deliver it someplace far away. I was wishing that it would be found once more and I would hear from the finder.

I told friends, neighbors and strangers about the story of the young boy whose message-in-a-bottle dream had been realized. It brought smiles to everyone. Many people shared their own stories of having thought about sending off a message in a bottle, but were now — inspired by the bottle I found — going to do it.

A couple of weeks later, I received an email containing scanned copies of the messages inside the Coke bottle. The bottle had bobbed 18 miles across Long Island Sound to Port Jefferson, N.Y., where a couple walking near the breakwater discovered it covered with seaweed. They noticed the cork and picked it up.

They wrote, "It is a great feeling to have been included in your endeavor. We are inspired by you Nina for keeping this going. We will add our message to yours and toss it back where we found it. We wish you both wonderfully happy and healthy lives."

The opportunity to connect with nature and with people in magical ways is what living in Connecticut is all about. I can dream large here and discover all kinds of moments of happiness.